Portable terminal with the function of walking navigation

• US 20040204825A1
• Filed: 04/29/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxell, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Shimada, Shigeru, Maruyama, Kishiko, Sasaki, Toshiichirou
• Granted Patent: US 6,922,630 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver

Abstract

A portable terminal with the function of walking navigation. The portable terminal displays information on its narrow screen so as to make it easy for the user (walker) to understand and realize an interface that enables the user to understand inputs of retrieving conditions intuitively, thereby saving the input labor.

Assume now that a user (walker) 10 is lost while walking towards a destination 11. In such a case, the present invention enables necessary information to be compressed, for example, so as to display both direction and distance to the destination from a present place with an orientation and a length of an arrow on a small screen and further so as to match the orientation of the arrow with the direction of the destination in the actual space. If the user (walker) 10 specifies a compressed information item 12, 13, or 14 for inquiry, the present invention controls so that the arrow always points the direction of the destination corresponding to each of those compressed information items 12, 13, and 14. The condition of retrieval can also be set by turning, for example, the tip of the portable terminal directly in the desired direction 12, 13, or 14.

Claims

1-14. -14. (Canceled).

15. A portable terminal, comprising:

a device for getting location information denoting a present place of said portable terminal;

a device for getting direction information denoting an orientation of said portable terminal;

an input device for inputting a destination; and

a display,

wherein

said display displays positions of said destination and said present place, and a relation of said direction and a direction from said present place to said destination without display of a map, and

said display changes according to a change of said direction of said portable terminal orientation for walking navigation.

16. A portable terminal according to claim 15,

wherein said direction from said present place to said inputted destination is denoted with an orientation of line.

17. A portable terminal according to claim 15,

wherein a distance between said present place and said destination is denoted with a number.

18. A portable terminal according to claim 15,

wherein said direction from said present place to the location of said another portable terminal is displayed using the symbols denoted and the present location and said location of another portable terminal.

19. A portable terminal according to claim 16,

wherein a distance between said present position and said destination is denoted with a length of said line.

25. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 15, further comprising:

a device for retrieving a route and displays a direction of movement by the arrow.

26. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 25, wherein said display further displays said grid information of said route.

27. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 25,

wherein said display displays said route with a bent line using symbols denoting starting and ending points and displays symbols denoting said present place on said route.

30. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 27,

wherein said display displays said route with a bent line using symbols denoting starting and ending points and displays symbols denoting said present place on said route.

20. A portable terminal, comprising:

a device for getting location information denoting a present place of said portable terminal;

a device for getting direction information denoting an orientation of said portable terminal;

a device for getting location information of another portable terminal from said another terminal via a connected network; and

a display,

wherein

said display displays positions of said destination and said present place, and a relation of said direction and a direction from said present place to said destination without the display of a map,

and said display changes according to a change of said direction of said portable terminal orientation for walking navigation.

21. A portable terminal according to claim 20,

wherein said direction from said present place to said location of another portable terminal is denoted with an orientation of line.

22. A portable terminal according to claim 20,

wherein said direction from said present place to the location of said another portable terminal is displayed using the symbols denoting the said present location and said location of another portable terminal.

23. A portable terminal according to claim 20,

wherein said display displays a distance between said present location to said location of another portable terminal with a number.

24. A portable terminal according to claim 21,

wherein a distance between said present location to said location of another portable terminal is denoted with a length of said line.

28. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 20, further comprising:

a device for retrieving a route from said present place to said destination, wherein

said display displays said route and displays a direction of movement by the arrow.

29. A portable terminal with walking navigation according to claim 28, wherein said display further displays said grid information of said route.